Figured i would go ahead and start a thread for my baby.

Excited to announce she is winter ready

-got a set of SAILUN winter tires for 450$ installed I know its a chinese brand of tires but i have faith that they will get the job done

-Did my undercoating yesterday but unfortunately (not sure how true this is) the tech said my car was too low for him to get to the front wheel wells but i managed to get a free can of the rustproofing spray and will be applying it myself soon

Future plans:

-picked up a used exhaust manifold to replace my cracked one (Huge thanks to Giu and Jay for the help with getting that) just waiting to get the fund to buy replacement bolts (leaning towards oem replacement) and gaskets

- a stage 2 daily southbend clutch is most likely the next big purchase for her haven't finalized which flywheel i want to use yet will also rebuild or replace slave and master

-going to keep my eye out for a summer set of rims...looking to get 18" staggered fitment (8 in front 9 in back)

if i can accomplish all this before the end of next summer i would be pretty happy...even happier if i would be able to upgrade the exhaust

Is your car AWD?

I personally would go with the street lite, it's 11lbs but still good weight, this is assuming you are just going to street drive it. For drag still with stock and for auto cross go with the fidanza.

If you ever plan on going awd I would forget the stagering, or expect to spend a ton of time trying to find a tire that's the exact same size, which i imagine would be pretty difficult from what Mike said when he was trying to do the same.

Your other options for bolts is go to bolts plus with a turbo bolt and get them to find you the correct ones, they won't be oem but they will be as strong if not stronger. The only thing I would make sure is oem is the lock washers unless you decide to use locktite (not sure what the consensus on that is)

Unfortunately not Mike if I am ever lucky enough financially an swap will be done but for the time being i cant afford a 2nd vehicle for the winters or an awd swap so gotta try and work with what i got

Streetlite is what i am thinking aswell and the locking washers is the exact reason i want to go oem Bryan would love to hear some feedback on this topic though keeping in mind everything has got to be cost efficient

Streetlite is the best option for the Southbend clutches. Either go that route or a stock flywheel.

I will go ahead and say right now, go for the Stage 3 "endurance", it's a little more cost wise but you will have the added capacity for future upgrades and it still feels like a stock clutch. I've put hundreds of launches and thousands of miles on this clutch over 3+ years and it has treated me very well.

The ACT Streetlite is actually 13lbs, and definitely a great flywheel. Jason has more experience with the Southbend clutches, so I would heed his advice.

Don't do staggered fit wheels. I could write you a couple paragraphs as to why it's a bad idea, but I'm at work so you'll have to just trust me.

This is the turbo bolt set you should use. This is the exhaust manifold stud kit you'll want (for a 7 bolt), if you need to replace yours. Do not skimp on these parts.

DSMs don't like being built on a budget. If you can't afford OEM hardware and gaskets for key components like your turbo, don't be thinking about buying upgrades like a lightened flywheel.

I have the ACT Streetlite along with the Southbend Stage 3 Endurance. My car has never been more enjoyable to drive. The pedal pressure is effortless and the engagement is so smooth!! I was blown away after using ACT's all my life.. really happy with the setup so far!

What doe you guys figure on pricing? RTM best bang for your buck?

Also with the Stage 3 endurance kit being around $500 would i be better of with an act 2100 or the southbend?

Keeping in mind the only reason i was leaning towards southbend because it was more affordable with the stage 2 daily being around $200

Unless your willing to cross the border yourself RTM is your best bet.

@Bryan Well my dad crosses the border 2-3 times a week being a transport driver so that wouldn't be an issue

Well then I would head over the dsmtuners and take a look at the supporting vendors and then compare prices.

EDIT: Found this http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/fre...uy-oem-parts-besides-junkyards-ebay.html

Keep in mind I still have my ubber clean FWD trans and almost brand new FWD ACT streetlite flywheel available for sale some time this winter

That's why I asked. But regardless, it's just not worth it on a FWD car. Purely a cosmetic enhancement that actually hinders performance...I think the right term here is rice?!?

Either way, you're in good hands with this community to keep you on track with where to spend your money.

Ziggy FTW!

I knew his car was FWD when I said that

Well aren't you a smarty pants

Ziggy had a pretty fair price on the Southbend stage 3, TMZ sells it for $440 shipped within the US which also includes a new OEM throwout bearing. If your dad is in the US for more than 48 hours and can bring it back tax free then you'd be golden, if not then I'd say RTM is the way to go.

I am on the Southbend Stage 3 drag. It is a 2200lb pressure plate with a 6 puck ceramic sprung disk. The pedal pressure is very light, almost similar to OEM. My first impression was that this clutch was going to slip with the power I am making. After about 100 to 200 km breakin I started pounding on this sucker and so far it has held everything I have thrown at it including numerous 6500rpm tire cooking launches.

For a single disk setup, so far this has been my favourite over any ACT setup. I'm all about using the least amount of clutch as possible now, instead of going overkill like a 2600 or 2900 when it is not needed, especially with a 6 puck disk So far this is working out beautifully.

If this clutch can hold up to my slicks next year, I will stick with this setup going forward.

So it turns out that staggering has been done successfully and by a big name at that, Shep!
You will just need to search a lot so that you can find something that has the same diameter.

What's good for a track-only drag beast is not necessarily good for a barely-modded daily driver.....

Very true, just wanted to let him know that it was possible!

With FWD/RWD it's never a question of possible. The front and rear axles are independent of each other; you don't even have to match tire diameter.

You just have to worry about the significant increase in long term tire and fuel costs. And if the wider tires go on the back on a FWD, you're incurring those costs for absolutely no performance gain whatsoever. You actually lose performance; you're increasing drag.

That, and no performance enthusiast will ever take someone seriously if they have wider tires on the back of their FWD.

^+1 exactly

Don't put wider rear tires on a car that under steers.

Shep also doesn't run a dsm rear diff so everything that is commonly the norm in 99% of dsm's goes right out the window. That car is in a whole different ball game than the rest of us.

This, this, this and this. Refer to above posts.

Thought i'd give a little update as the warmer weather motivated me to give my 2g some tlc...

Scrubbed down all area of engine that had oil/residue caked on it so i could narrow down if their are any leaks and where

Also removed the pcv valve and i could hear the bearing rattling inside there so i can now eliminate a faulty pcv from my list of potential causes of my oil burning

Also did a quick visual inspection at spark plugs and wire and i didnt notice any arching or charring and also their was no signs of oil inside the spark plug area

I am hoping to pick up a dsmlink running v2.0 very soon just waiting on funds and also am hoping to put TerryS's fwd transmission running the act 2600 kit very soon as well to correct my transmission issues.

Once exams are done i plan to do a clutch fluid flush and also remove the intake pipe and clean out any oil residue inside there along with using the K&N filter cleaning kit

One question i have regarding the Oil filler cap...the seal doesnt seem 100% as there are visual signs of improper seals...what i was wondering is that if i beef up the gasket by putting some cardboard under it cut in the same shape as gasket would i be ok? Just worried about the cardboard burning or charring

If your oil cap is the same as a 1g. replace the gasket tighten the screw/nut and bend the tabs for a wee bit more tension.

https://www.rtmracing.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17218&cat=276&page=2

I've got some bad news Manny, in order for me to do the AWD swap I want to rebuild/upgrade all the awd parts where (fiscally) possible first, this being said I won't be doing the actual swap until that happens, so....looks like I'll be running my current fwd setup this season and doing the actual swap when she is off the road some time in October. If you can wait until the end of this upcoming season then its yours, if not then I'm afraid you will have to find another 'çlean' candidate.

I apologize but I just can't have my car off the road for another summer like last year.

Found another candidate for a tranny only difference it is running an act 2100 setup which im not to sure that it bothers me. As soon as funds open up i am picking up that tranny and dsmlink v2.0 and throwing them in

Good man, as said before let us know if you need help!

Yea im definatly going to be giving a lot of you a shout either for specs or knowledge...that depends on 2 scenarios

1) I do the swap myself for tranmission

2) While i go to vancouver in july for a trip i may leave my 2g at a buddies shop where he will be charging me bare minimum labour id say a few hundred bucks

An ACT 2100 will be fine for you. Your left leg would not have appreciated the 2600, which is considerable overkill for your setup.

I would try to attempt the transmission swap yourself (with support from the board, of course). It's not fun, but it is fairly straightforward, and not nearly as disgusting as doing it on an AWD 2g. If you learn now, you'll save yourself big bucks next time you need a new clutch or have a transmission issue.

Yeah 2600 is no good for a daily unless you like that sort of thing. Have it in the 1g and it's being switched for a more daily-friendly Southbend clutch. The 2600 has a tendency to make your left leg bulkier than your right one lol

Yeah Southbend is definitely on my list, I am already lopsided enough!

I have a 2100. It holds everything my car has thrown at it. Not saying I make huge power, but I well beyond the power levels you are at. And it is very street friendly.

What disc is in there Stephen?

Just a sprung street dics. But I am much happier with it than my old centerforce clutch. Again it's not the best clutch in world, but itholds everything my car throws at it right now.

I'm partial to sprung 6 pucks. I'm rocking a bully "stage 4" lol..

Wonder if RTM carries them yet?

I think my next will be a 6 puck. But I don't think I need it yet.

I think your next snail should be a 20g if you like the 16g so much. They don't really break the bank either.